For the past two Tuesday nights I have attended a community workshop by Sustainable Works about Green Living. I have been wanting to do more to create a more sustainable lifestyle, but it has seemed so overwhelming and I didn't really know what to do or what real resources there are. And since that majority of people I observe don't truly seem to give a hoot about their environmental impact, sometimes it seems unimportant. Life just seems too busy to deal with it.
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| Photo credit to Shira Golding at Flickr |
Well, the sad fact is that the environmental crises we are facing just from trash, chemicals and pollution really and truly seems to be one of the most important and pressing issues facing us right now. I am really not understanding why people on the street aren't stopping in their tracks and saying, "Ewwww, gross!" and "Enough, already! The buck stops here."
After the talk about waste (last Tuesday), I just kept seeing potential trash everywhere. At a get-together with some other mothers we were supposed to bring food to share. I brought a homemade dinner of Moroccan lentils and a salad. Another woman brought these little chocolate covered granola-like bars that were individually wrapped; said she got them from Costco (which means that there are a LOT of these individually wrapped little do-hickies in her kitchen alone.) Now, I really like this woman - she's awesome. Not to mention I have myself been a perpetrator of this very issue. But, my heart sank when I saw those little individually wrapped items. All I could see was little pieces of trash. Piling up. Landing in over-filled landfills that are soon to close. Not bio-degrading and send up poofs of toxic waste into the air. Or floating off into our beautiful Pacific and killing wildlife or washing up on our beaches.
I am depressed about this. And heck, I've been a culprit. Unwittingly. But, now that I know about the huge problem, how can I make choices that are responsible? That will create a better world for my children? And for others?
This takes effort. This takes time. This takes educating myself, because I am only just at the beginning of understanding. But I think it is worth doing. It must be done. I highly recommend the Green Living Workshop by www.sustainableworks.org if you live in Los Angeles; you get an incredible workbook called The Sustainability Primer - it's absolutely terrific. Full of great links and ideas. It's especially great for someone like me who really needs it at their fingertips - literally - as it's a bona fide real workbook that I can carry around with me to read and learn even as I schlep my daughters to their activities.
If only more people would care. And do something. What are you doing?
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